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@ 2012/07/26A Kentucky teen who named and shamed her juvenile rapists on twitter after they received a light sentence will not have to face a contempt of court case.
According to AP, Savannah Dietrich, 17, quickly gathered supporters nationwide who were upset that the victim of an assault could be punished for speaking out against her attackers.
The judge had ordered no one to speak about the case, which was in juvenile court, but Dietrich said she was prepared to go to jail for what she did..
Attorneys for the boys dropped their motion to charge her with contempt. David Mejia, an attorney for one of the boys, said the decision to withdraw the motion had nothing to do with public sentiment and online attention to the case.
He said that any action now would be a waste of time because everyone already knows the names of his clients.
But if the case had made it to prosecution it could have created an interesting legal precedent. Kentucky rules on gag orders in juvenile cases assumes that information revealed came from reading the court record or sitting in court.
In Dietrich's case she was the victim, and she had independent knowledge of the crime. If she chose to report what she knew then there would have been some problems with the First Amendment.
According to AP, Savannah Dietrich, 17, quickly gathered supporters nationwide who were upset that the victim of an assault could be punished for speaking out against her attackers.
The judge had ordered no one to speak about the case, which was in juvenile court, but Dietrich said she was prepared to go to jail for what she did..
Attorneys for the boys dropped their motion to charge her with contempt. David Mejia, an attorney for one of the boys, said the decision to withdraw the motion had nothing to do with public sentiment and online attention to the case.
He said that any action now would be a waste of time because everyone already knows the names of his clients.
But if the case had made it to prosecution it could have created an interesting legal precedent. Kentucky rules on gag orders in juvenile cases assumes that information revealed came from reading the court record or sitting in court.
In Dietrich's case she was the victim, and she had independent knowledge of the crime. If she chose to report what she knew then there would have been some problems with the First Amendment.
